Patch 16 Skill Changes

Blizzard dropped patch 16 a wee while ago and in case you were wanting to see what has changed as far as skills are concerned here’s the generated list. A little later than usual with the update following the patch hitting the servers due to Dorjan having a power cut. The power cut that destroyed a PSU and then subsequently blew all the fuses. Typical 🙂

Summon an ancient pillar that deals 240% weapon damage followed by an additional 240% weapon damage after 2 seconds.

Summon an ancient pillar that deals 210% weapon damage followed by an additional 210% weapon damage after 2 seconds.

Wave of Light – Empowered Wave

Reduces the cost of Wave of Light to 60 Spirit.

Reduces the cost of Wave of Light to 40 Spirit.

Dashing Strike – Flying Side Kick

Perform a flying kick that has a 50% chance to Stun your target for 2 seconds.

Perform a flying kick that has a 60% chance to Stun your target for 1.5 seconds.

Inner Sanctuary – Advanced Tooltip

Cost:30 SpiritCooldown:30 seconds

Create a runic circle of protection on the ground for 6 seconds that cannot be passed by enemies.

Cost:30 SpiritCooldown:20 seconds

Create a runic circle of protection on the ground for 5 seconds that cannot be passed by enemies.

Inner Sanctuary – Consecration

Increases the duration of Inner Sanctuary to 8 seconds.

Increases the duration of Inner Sanctuary to 7 seconds.

Exploding Palm – Impending Doom

Increases the duration of the Bleed effect to 5 seconds.

Increases the duration of the Bleed effect to deal 220% weapon damage as Physical over 6 seconds.

Exploding Palm – Essence Burn

Instead of bleeding, the target will burn for 250% weapon damage as Fire every second over 3 seconds. If the target dies while burning, it explodes causing all nearby enemies to burn for 60% weapon damage as Fire over 3 seconds. This effect can happen multiple times.

Instead of bleeding, the target will burn for 250% weapon damage as Fire over 3 seconds. If the target dies while burning, it explodes causing all nearby enemies to burn for 60% weapon damage as Fire over 3 seconds. This effect can happen multiple times.

Cyclone Strike – Sunburst

Changes the blast into an explosion of fire that has a 25% chance to Fear enemies for 2.0 seconds.

Changes the blast into an explosion of fire that has a 35% chance to Fear enemies for 1.5 seconds.

Summon a multi-headed Hydra for 15 seconds that attacks enemies with bolts of fire dealing 33% weapon damage as Fire. You may only have one Hydra active at a time.

Cost:15 Arcane Power

Summon a multi-headed Hydra for 15 seconds that attacks enemies with bolts of fire dealing 28% weapon damage as Fire. You may only have one Hydra active at a time.

Hydra – Frost Hydra

Summon a Frost Hydra that breathes a short range cone of frost, causing 36% weapon damage as Cold to all enemies in the cone.

Summon a Frost Hydra that breathes a short range cone of frost, causing 30% weapon damage as Cold to all enemies in the cone.

Hydra – Lightning Hydra

Summon a Lightning Hydra that electrocutes enemies for 39% weapon damage as Lightning.

Summon a Lightning Hydra that electrocutes enemies for 33% weapon damage as Lightning.

Hydra – Mammoth Hydra

Summon a Mammoth Hydra that breathes a river of flame at nearby enemies, dealing 26% weapon damage per second as Fire to enemies caught on the burning ground.

Summon a Mammoth Hydra that breathes a river of flame at nearby enemies, dealing 22% weapon damage per second as Fire to enemies caught on the burning ground.

Hydra – Arcane Hydra

Summon an Arcane Hydra that spits Arcane Orbs, which explode on impact, causing 33% weapon damage as Arcane to enemies near the explosion.

Summon an Arcane Hydra that spits Arcane Orbs, which explode on impact, causing 28% weapon damage as Arcane to enemies near the explosion.

Meteor – Advanced Tooltip

Cost:60 Arcane Power

Summon an immense Meteor that plummets from the sky, causing 180% weapon damage as Fire to all enemies it crashes into. The ground it hits is scorched with molten fire that deals 60% weapon damage as Fire over 3 seconds.

Cost:60 Arcane Power

Summon an immense Meteor that plummets from the sky, causing 200% weapon damage as Fire to all enemies it crashes into. The ground it hits is scorched with molten fire that deals 60% weapon damage as Fire over 3 seconds.

Meteor – Molten Impact

Increases the damage of the Meteor impact to 234% weapon damage as Fire and the molten fire to 78% weapon damage as Fire over 3 seconds.

Increases the damage of the Meteor impact to 260% weapon damage as Fire and the molten fire to 78% weapon damage as Fire over 3 seconds.

Meteor – Meteor Shower

Unleash a volley of 7 smaller Meteors that each strike for 72% weapon damage as Fire.

Unleash a volley of 7 smaller Meteors that each strike for 80% weapon damage as Fire.

Meteor – Comet

Transforms the Meteor to ice that deals 216% weapon damage as Cold. The impact site is covered in a freezing mist that deals 72% weapon damage as Cold and Slows enemy movement by 60% over 3 seconds.

Transforms the Meteor to ice that deals 240% weapon damage as Cold. The impact site is covered in a freezing mist that deals 72% weapon damage as Cold and Slows enemy movement by 60% over 3 seconds.

Meteor – Liquefy

If the initial impact of the Meteor causes critical hits, the molten fire duration is increased to 8 seconds.

If the initial impact of the Meteor causes a Critical Hit, the molten fire duration is increased to 8 seconds.

Spectral Blade – Deep Cuts

Enemies hit by the blade will Bleed for an additional 35% weapon damage done over 3 seconds.

This skill is affected by your characters:Attacks per second (set to 1 for example above)

Enemies hit by the blade will Bleed for an additional 35% weapon damage over 3 seconds.

Spectral Blade – Healing Blades

Whenever the blades do critical damage, you are healed 8% of the damage done.

Whenever the blades do critical damage, you are healed for 8% of the damage done.

Ice Armor – Crystallize

Whenever you are struck by a melee attack, your Armor is increased by 15% for 10 seconds. This effect can stack up to 3 times.

Whenever you are struck by a melee attack, your Armor is increased by 15% for 30 seconds. This effect can stack up to 3 times.

Diamond Skin – Prism

Reduces Arcane Power cost of all spells by 15 while Diamond Skin is active.

Reduces Arcane Power cost of all spells by 7 while Diamond Skin is active.

Yeah, this was the biggest change I noted among all these notes. The Barbarian keeps all his rage generators intact, but the monk got massively nerfed. IF monk items are now a main source for gaining spirit, it now means that you have to have at least one gear slot dedicated to that item mod. And no other class has that requirement for resource management.

it is not as severe, but DH lost most of their huge hatred regen skills as well. I was planning not to use any of those primary atks since they dont impress me much, and try using other skills’ effects to regen, but dont think it is managable now.

Well, at least in the beta, the monk appeared to be playing a different sport in the early levels. This guy is doing all sorts of crazy moves and my DH is plucking silly single shots. It was so painfully obvious I almost switched to the monk which i had no desire to play on the outset. I know melee need some buff due to the imminent danger factor but c’mon.

this jumped out at me too, but in all fairness the monk did seem kind of overpowered. Playing one I felt like a god by level 5 or so. It was awesome while it lasted, but in the long run I’d prefer a game that felt a little more challenging. Hopefully this is it…

If you have it as an active skill on your toolbar, for instance, it’s grayed out normally and can’t be used. Once you start taking hits from enemies, each hit grants a 15% chance for that skill to go from a grayed out, unusable state to a bright icon. If you don’t use it after a few seconds, the icon goes back to gray and needs to be “retriggered” before it can become active again.

It’s kind of… weird. Unless you’re spamming that button all the time amidst your other skills, you have to be looking at it directly to see if the skill can be used. There’s no other real indication besides the icon lighting up, so you have to keep one eye on the battle and one eye on your hotbar.

With the clarification of Grasp of the Dead – raining corpses, I can only imagine that this removes the slow effect otherwise it is just an improvement on grouping eels. It seems odd that it wouldn’t say so specifically though.

-edit- Monk generators weren’t actually changed. So there must have been some sort of error.

I have got to say. I don’t know how far behind this beta patch is from release build, but I’m extremely impressed. I still think level 6 monk is OP super ez mode now, but the game is looking so very polished.

just so you know the monk has a new first rune for the thunder fists that tele’s you directly to the target and the graphic for the skill is changed from elec to almost arcane looking… kinda a big deal

Lulz. Instead of taking the Mantra route of making Wizard “active-but-really-passive” skills actually “active”, Blizzard just throws their hands up in the air and makes them 5 minute long. I feel Wizards should assassinate the lead Wizard designer before it’s too late.

Brother Malachi has always been there and has always healed you. Most people never really bother talking to all the NPCs in town though, so Blizzard added more hand holding to alert them he is there just like they added that idiotic scripted voice clip to the vendor that’s just after the Mayor’s cart. The first time you walk by him he shrieks like a retard “YES, YES!”. It made me wish for an option to mute NPCs.

Rings on vendors is a good thing. Looks like they are finally implementing the change from a few patches ago which mentioned them being available from them. I like it.

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR INFORMATION? i ask because the last two posts you have posted have some misleading errors that would lead people who arnt in the beta to have improper impressions from incorrect analysis. For ex. The monks spirit gen is not reduced to 1 from 6 in for Thundering Fists. i could go on , but i frankly dont have time. I would only go by offical blue posts then this guys rubbish. Last patch he posted incorrect damage modification stats for Witch Doctor. I know for fact because monk and witch doctor are two classes ive been playing heavily.

Don’t care much about the heart-icon. As for the Skill UI though, couldn’t agree more. Why on earth is it still the same? I can see no reason for it to stay the way it is on the PC-version. It does not make any sense on a PC what so ever. Plz read this Blizzard: WE DON’T GAME ON TOUCH SCREEN TABLETS, WE STILL HAVE MICE CONNECTED TO OUR COMPUTERS!

No blue comments addressing the concerns either. If they were to build the console version from “scratch”, why shove obvious console solutions into the PC-version? I’ll be seriously dissapoint if it makes it into the retail version, and since it hasn’t been altered yet, I bet it will.

Kaydee, can you please alter your avatar? When being irritated about some Blizzard decision (as the horrible Skill UI which I commented on above), it just so rubs it in my face seeing that smug smile on Jay’s face.

This is really puzzling to me. Leading up to the beta, I was trying to decide between the Wizard and the Monk. The Monk resource system already has turned me off during the beta, not to the poiint where I wont play it of course, but to the point that I had no intention of starting as a Monk. It felt lame that of all the classes, he was the only one that HAD to hit things to get his resource. The Wizard can regen while running / kiting, same for the DH and the WD. The Barb is similar, but at least he regens while getting hit also, and has several skills that give you an initial big burst of Furry. The Monk though, you can’t start a fight with your spirit spenders unless you ended the last fight by not using your spirit. Or, you have to stack heavy spirit regen. The only plausible explination for further nerfing the resources of the Monk (WTF 1 down from 6?>?) is that Spirit will passively regen, slowly, but still regen. Basically it feels like they are going to turn spirit into white colored mana.. Thats the only explination I can think of. Because, your telling me I have to use a spirit generator (fists of thunder) 75 times, and hit a target 75 times to be able to cast 1 wave of light? No way. Thats utter crazyness, not when a Wizard can cast 3 Arcane orbs for 175% damage back to back to back and then wait 5 seconds and do it again. Is the philosophy of Monk gameplay that the Spirit generators are so awesome they have to use them like exclusively, with a spender mixed in only once in a while? I r confused

Well it’s nice to see some of those nerfs (not talking about the monk). More nerfs than buffs should help make Diablo a better game by making it harder, forcing players to play more conservatively and more defensively.

Hey Snow, i am in the beta, and i can tell you that the monks regen is not down from 6 to 1 , and that many of these numbers posted are incorrect. I play a WD, Monk and every other class and i am familiar enough with all skills to know that the previous two posts the OP posted have been incorrect in regards to some skills dmg modifiers and resource cost.